Tube carton



March 21, 1944. c. I. ELLIOTT TUBE CARTON Filed April 30. 1942 M'I'EJIOR. Charles I. Ell/off,

'W%M' ATTFIRNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1944 omen I TUBE CARTON Charles 1. Elliott, Sea Glrt, N. 1., llsllnor to Radio Corporation of America, a o

ware

mration or Dela- Application April :0. 1942, Serial No. 441,070

(01. cos-4e) Claims. My invention relates to cartons or paper board for radio tubes and the like.

The conventional radio tube carton comprises a sleeve or outer container and an inner sleeve or slide for carrying the tube. Cartons now in general use are wasteful or paper board material from which the cartons are cut and are hard .to load in the factory.

, An object of my invention is a carton i'gr radio tubes and the like which is easy to load and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is an improved carton for radio tubes and the like which uses a minimum of paper board material and yet which is effective in protecting the tube it contains.

Th characteristic features of my invention are defined in the appended claims and preferred embodiments thereof are described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawing in which Figure l is a perspective view of a carton slide constructed according to my invention, Figure 2 shows partly in section my improved sleeve and a partly inserted slide, Figure 3 is an end view of a loaded carton constructed according to my invention, Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 3, Figure 6 is a view of the tube locking detail and Figure 'I is another tube locking detail embodying my invention.

The sleeve or outer container I of my improved carton has four panels 2, 3, 4 and 5 with two turn-in flaps 6 at one end of the sleeve hinged to two opposite panels 2 and 4. Preferably a third, cover flap 1 with a tuck flap 8, is hinged on the end of one of the remaining panels 3. As more fully hereinafter described the turn-in flaps may be iolded under and the cover flap folded over the end panel of the slide to effectively lock the slide against lengthwise movement.

The slide 8 comprises a single strip of paper board, the ends 01 the strip being brought together and joined, as by gluing, to form a closed loop. The strip is scored so that the strip may be folded into two parallel side panels l0, an'end panel I l and a platiorm II, the platform being integrally Joined to one end of the side panels. The platform is set in from the end o1 the side panels and is held in place by the two hanger panels It. The hole It is provided in the platform large enough only to receive the cylindrical bulb portion of the tube, and notches I! in the hanger panels are cut so that the edges oi. the u b notches will snap over and engage the rim of the base or flange portion of the tube. I

Speed and ease of loading are characteristics or my improved carton. The operator may be supplied with the slide in the open trapezoidal form of Figure 1. A tube is dropped into the platform hole and with slight pressure the platform moves down, bending the strip at the hinged edges of the panels and drawing the side panels into parallelism. At the same time the lower end of the slide is started into the end of the sleeve, opposite the flaps, and as the slide is pressed home the notches in the hanger panels engage the rim of the tube base. .Preferably the slide and its loaded tube are pushed on through the sleeve a sufllcient distance to permit the turnin flaps 6 to be passed under the slide end panel ll. The slide is then pushed back until the slide end panel is flush withthe end of the sleeveand the cover flap is laid over and the tuck flap 8 slipped in place. The notches ii are spaced the proper distance from the platform H, with respect to the longitudinal length of the tube base flange, to firmly hold th flange on th platform. The free end of the tube is thus yieldingly held out of contact with the carton sides. If desired, registering holes in the tum-in flaps and in the cover flap may be provided so as to expose the center portion of the slide end panel. Thus only the slides need be marked with the tube type numbers which would permit universal use of sleeves for all types of tubes of the same size.

If desired the amount of overlay of the hanger panel notches on the tube base may be increased by making two closely spaced scores ii at the junction of the hanger panels and side panels as shown in Figure 7. When the slide is loaded and pressed into the sleeve, the hanger panel is pushed into a plane at a slight angle to the side panel, ghus increasing the bite on the rim of the tube ase.

Good results have been obtained in packing radio tubes of the type commercially known as metal radio tubes" where the carton sleeve is about 1.47 inches square and made of paper board .015 inches thick and when the slide is made of .020 inch paper board. Paper board commercially known as bleached manila lined chip has been found satisfactory. My improved carton is easy to load, is inexpensive to manufacture and firmly yet yieldingly holds the tube in place and protects it against damage by shock.

I claim:

1. A carton for a radio tube having a cylindrical b with a flange at one end, comprising a tourpanel rectangular sleeve, a slide for receiving and holding said tube in said sleeve, said slide comprising a single strip of paper board equal in width to the sleeve panel width, said strip being scored and bent to extend transversely across both ends and along opposite sides of the sleeve, with reverse folds at one end of the side portions of the strip to position the adjacent end portion of the strip inwardly from the ends of the strip, said adjacent end portion having a hole to receive the bulb portion of the tube, and the reverse folds having notches to engage the flange of the tube.

2. A carton for radio tubes comprising a rectangular four-sided sleeve, a tube carrying slide in said sleeve, said slide comprising two side panels extending along two opposite panels'of the sleeve, and two transverse portions, one of said portions being set inwardly from one end of said side portion and integrally hinged to said side panels by inwardly folded hanger panels, and notches in each hanger panel intermediate the hinged ends of the hanger panel.

yieldingly hold the bulb end of the tube free of the cart'on sides.

' 4. A carton for radio tubes comprising 9. rectangular four-sided sleeve, a tube carrying slide in said sleeve, said slide comprising two side panels extending along two opposite sides of the sleeve, and a transverse end panel joining the ends of the side panels and a transverse platform set inwardly from one end of said side panels and hinged to said side panels by inwardly folded hanger panels, the Junction between the ends of the side panels and said hanger panels having two closely spaced scores to hold the outer ends of the hanger panels inward from the side panels and to hold the hanger panels at an angle to said side panels.

5. A carton for radio tubes comprising a tubular four panel sleeve, turn-in flaps at one end of the sleeve joined to'two opposite panels, a cover flap with a tuck flap hinged to one end of one of the remaining panels, a tube carrying slide in said sleeve comprising a transversely creased strip of paper board of a width equal to the width of the sleeve panels and folded to form two parallel side the slide and having a. hole to receive said bulb, I

two hanger panels folded inwardly from the other ends of said side panels and hinged at their inner ends to the ends of said platform, each of said hanger panels having intermediate its ends, means to hold the flanged end of the tube in contact with the outer surface of said platform to panels, a transverse platform panel having a hole to receive a tube, two hanger panels folded inwardly from the ends of said side panels and hinged at their inner ends to the ends of said platform panel, each of said hanger panels having intermediate its ends a recess to lock 9. tube in place on said platform, and a transverse end panel joined to the opposite ends of said side panels, said tube-carrying slide being positioned with its side panels between the turn-in flaps on said sleeve, the .two turn-in flaps extending transversely of and underlying the slide end panel and said cover flap overlying said end panel with said tuck flap between the sleeve panel and the slide panel to hold the slide against lengthwise movement in said sleeve.

CHARLES I. ELLIO'I'I. 

